BJP takes U-turn on Land Bill, agrees to bring back UPA's provisions

New Delhi: In a climbdown, BJP has agreed to bring back the key provisions of UPA's land law including the ones on consent clause and social impact assessment and drop controversial amendments brought by the Narendra Modi Government in December last year through an ordinance.

Sources said all the 11 BJP members in the Joint Committee of Parliament on land bill today moved amendments seeking to bring back social impact assessment and consent clause.

With BJP retracting from its previous position, there is likelihood that the panel headed by BJP MP S S Ahluwalia will come out with a consenus report by August 7. "It's as good as our own Act of 2013," a Congress member of the committee said after the meeting expressing total agreement with the amendments moved by the ruling BJP.

Trinamool Congress members Derek 'O Brien and Kalyan Banerjee walked out of the meeting stating that the amendments were circulated this morning and they had little time to study.

Six of the amendments were discussed today on which there was a consensus. Out of the total 15 amendments in the NDA bill, nine were substantial in nature that have been opposed by Congress and a number of Opposition parties.

Out of these nine six including the provisions dealing with consent clause, social impact assessment, replacing the term private company with private entity were discussed today and a consensus has emerged on them, Congress members claimed.